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Post by codystarbuck on Oct 10, 2021 16:03:36 GMT -5
Marvel Two-in-One #59Thing & the Torch! Oh....joy.......... Don't get me wrong, Ben & Torch have a great dynamic; but, Torch is rather "so-so" in team-up books. Definitely depends on the writer. Creative Team: Marv Wolfman-plot, Ralph Macchio-script, Chic Stone-pencils, Al Gordon-inks, Irv Watanabe-letters, Ben Sean-colors, Roger Stern-editor Well........I'm sure it will be fine.......................I suppose........................ Synopsis: It's a lazy sunday at the Baxter Building and Ben wants to read the funnies, while Torch wants to take a spin in a Corvette he has been working on. They argue and wreck the place, then go off to McDonald's to determine if there is anything natural in their "shakes." They walk down the street to the nearest Mickey-D's, when a black rider interrupts traffic and causes a land yacht to crash into a fire hydrant.... Ben moves the car and plugs up the hydrant, though a request from some overheated kids touches his heart and he provides them with a sprinkler, in which to play. Torch handles the rider and runaway horse and he corrals both, when the rider's fiancee turns up to harangue him.... Apparently, he wants to cross everything off his bucket list before he is doomed....MARRIED......and one of the items is to be a fireman. he goes off to continue and the woman pleads with Ben and Johnny to stop him, before he gets himself or others killed. Ben can't say no to a dame and off they go. A little later, Norman, the doom.......GROOM-to-be, is riding on the back of a fire truck, speeding towards a blaze at a rather ironic location, in hindsight.... Norman snuck into the firehouse and jumped into gear, without anyone noticing he wasn't part of the company. The chief sends him up the ladder and the way he is carrying the hose should have clued veteran firefighters that he is not a trained fireman. Torch spots the blaze and yells for ben to follow, since Norman is likely to be there. He is getting sick from the smoke and height and blocking the way to get people out of the building. Torch flies over and creates a vortex to suck the flames up away fro the people in the window (and to the upper floors, where people are likely to be trapped, so nice job match-head!). Ben makes like King Kong and climbs the building by poking holes into the outer structure ('cause that'll make a burning building stable) and notice's Norman trying to carry out a civilian and lean too far forward. A rung of the ladder breaks ('cause hook and ladder trucks have wooden ladders, in 1979) and Norman and the civilian fall, but Ben catches them. However, it is too much weight and the outer structure gives way and Ben loses his hold on the building. Johnny rescues Norman and the civilian while Ben bounces off the pavement (he can take it). The fiancee, Deena, embraces him, but he is mad he didn't achieve his goal and storms off, muttering about a "man's gotta do what a man's gotta do." Deena asks Johnny to stop him; but, he and Ben have to help with the fire; so...@#$% Norman! Later, a break in occurs at a museum and a guard is tied up. Norman "payed a stoolie for information about the robbery," and goes inside, takes the guard's gun and goes to foil the robbery. Where the heck does an average Joe, like Norman, find a criminal informant? Was this guy standing on a street corner, with a case opened on a folding stand, and a little cardboard sign saying "Rats 'R' Us"? Mike Hammer Norman ain't; but, the trussed up guard gets to the silent alarm and activates it with his face (because a finger or foot would be too easy). Ben and Johnny hear the police report and head out to rescue Norman. he needs it, because he gets bashed in the head and has a gun pointed at him, when ben intercepts the bullet and then his fist intercepts the shooter's face. Torch melts another "heater" and then a stereotype...HOOD....gets the drop on Norman and uses him as a hostage to get away from the heroes. Norman trips as the hood maneuvers him and bumps the gun out of the hood's hand. He then gets a dose of Kirby and decks the mug and takes his gun. Ben and Johnny take care of the rest. Deena harangues Norman some more and tells him to give up on the next item on the list, before he gets killed. he tells her don't woryy, it is the easiest of all and tosses away the list. ben is curious and picks it up. Item number 4 says "Become a husband." Aw, isn't that nice! Thoughts: Well, this was dumb, but entertaining enough as filler, after the Project PEGASUS epic. Chic Stone gets to show what a veteran can do by drawing anything and everything, even if it isn't quite as dynamic as Byrne or Perez (or Kirby). He gets to do horses, and firetrucks and hoodlums, just like the old days, which was probably a plus, for him. Gordon is a rookie (I believe) on the inks; but it's serviceable, if not spectacular. Deena isn't given the best appearance, in some panels and the whole thing looks like it was drawn in the 60s, with the clothing, as the hoods are all in suits (and fedoras) and Deena looks like Laura Petrie (minus the capri pants). Also, a hook and ladder truck is pretty well F-ed at a fire at the World Trade Center, after a certain level. The rescue attempt is pretty low down; what about the upper floors? Lighthearted works well enough for Ben and Johnny, as it lets them be playful, without seeming out of place with a serious story. Not sure if Marv whipped up a plot to help a deadline or if this was an old one lying round that got picked up as filler. Marv had spear-headed a project to create story inventory to use with deadline problems, which is why so many storylines, in the past, got interrupted by an un-related issue. This kind of feels like one, from Marv's time on the FF, rather than a new MTIO story. Maybe it was a plot he left unused from his time as writer, here. Whatever the case, it feels like inventory, as there is no reference to the events of the previous issues and no set up for Johnny to be there, in the previous issue. Next issue brings back the team of Guenwald, Macchio, Perez and Day, as Ben has to team-up with The Impossible Man.
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Post by codystarbuck on Oct 10, 2021 17:17:56 GMT -5
Marvel Two-in-One Annual #4Thing & Black Bolt! Here's a question; why has no one done a silent issue, with Black Bolt? Seems like a natural! Creative Team: Allyn Brodsky (not related to Sol, Gary or Janice Brodsky Cohen)-plot, David Michelinie-script, Jim Craig-layouts, Bob Budiansky & Bruce Patterson-finished art, Roger Stern-editor, Jim Shooter-Dr Frankenstein Irv Watanabe-letters, George Bell-colors Man, this is seriously cobbled together: plot by one guy, script by another, layouts by a third, finished art from another duo. At least a committee wasn't required for the lettering and coloring. What was this, an employment project? With this many cooks involved, you know this must be one tasty soup! Right? I mean the expression is "Too many cooks makes the broth taste great." Right? I'm sure that's the way it goes..... Synopsis: Lockjaw has come to play with his pal Benjie and he brought friends... Sadly, no one is home, so no games of manhole cover frisbee, in Central Park! It seems that Attilan, aka The Great Refuge, is being buffeted by "air quakes," whatever they are. Black Bolt sends Medusa and Lockjaw back to help with damage control, while he looks for help. he takes the private elevator down to the lobby and surprises residents, then uses his tuning fork to pick up images of Alicia and looks her up in the phonebook (this is how we "googled" stuff in the Stone Age, kids). He finds her address and goes to find her, though after a few encounters with hysterics and wisenheimers, he grabs a discarded overcoat and hat to hide his swanky duds. No one will notice the mask. We pause our story for the Hulk to tell puny humans to eat pie, not make war! Mmmm, Hulk like fat and sugar! Back in our story, Black Bolt turns up at Alicia's and it turns into a gene Wilder & Richard Pryor movie.... (WARNING It's got Richard Pryor, so...pottymouth stuff) (Though Gene was the one swearing) Black Bolt takes Alicia's fand and places it on his face and she feels the mask and knows it is Black Bolt (and not Captain America or Daredevil). he turns a statue into one of Ben to tell Alicia what he needs and Alicia figures it out pretty quickly. One quick shoe change later (seriously, it's in the dialogue) and they are off to find Ben, who is at the DMV, renewing the registration on the Fantasticar (or something). He runs off a smart aleck, who nearly collides with Jarvis, who is helping Miss Judy (Parks), the object of unwanted affection from Graviton, try to get her driver's license. Red tape stands in the way and they leave, when Judy gets grabbed by someone and Jarvis finds his feet weigh too much to move... Ben finishes his business and comes outside to find Black Bolt, in disguise, grab Alicia and drag her with and goes all "Clobberin' Time on Black Bolthim, as he goes after Judy and her abductor. ben gets "the wrong end of the stick," (as they say in the UK, in old tv shows), until Ben recognizes who he is pummeling and Alicia confirms it. Jarvis then draws their attention to his plight. Ben sends Alicia home in a cab, in Jarvis' care, while he and BB look for Judy. Judy is busy dealing with Graviton, who was wandering around, with amnesia, until he spotted her and it all cam back.... ...briefly. Judy runs in fear and Graviton stops her, with gravity and she cries out, drawing our heroes and the fight is on. Ben gest anchored to the pavement, while BB avoids Graviton's blasts. Since they are stuck there, ben asks Judy about Graviton and she relates his story... BB zaps Graviton and his memory returns and Ben and Judy are released from the gravity hold. Graviton then transforms into something else... I'm gonna cry BS on the explanation, but we will move on. Graviton seems to have a sharper mind and asks for sanctuary fromBlack Bolt, out of the blue and BB signals that he is "safe." Oh, guess not. he means "No way, Jose!". Well, Heck hath no fury like a Graviton spurned and it's back on! Energy crackles, rubble flies and gravity beams get sent to draw in massive solar flares. Graviton hurls mini-black holes at Ben, but BB stops them. Graviton goes off to play Godzilla with Manhattan and SHIELD alerts President Carter that a massive solar flare is going to hit the Earth. Ben sends Judy away and BB into space to check out the energy blast Graviton released. BB intercepts it and the SHIELD personnel on their orbital warning station go to change their jumpsuits. BB catches up with Ben and gives him a message, which he can't read; but, a physics professor, from Hoboken, just happens to be on hand to explain.... BB turns some rubble into anti-matter, which doesn't explode while touching the matter that makes up Ben's body and he hurls it at Graviton (who is attacking the UN building), who doesn't try to duck and BB destroys the anti-matter. Graviton explains to Ben that he intended to let it destroy him and BB stopped it. he then goes off to the other universe and the whole thing comes to a rather unlikely end. At the end, we are told this all takes place before FF #207, involving Attilan and the Inhumans and we are shown a panel of Medusa tied up and subjected to a hair dryer... Oh hey, check out the back cover.... Who doesn't want banana walkie-talkies and banana compasses? Aside from the people of Guatemala, who have a bone to pick with the parent company? Thoughts: This is a bit of a hot mess. Guess too many cook spoil the broth. Allyn Brodsky worked in the Marvel office, in a clerical capacity, but did a little writing there. However, this sounds more Michelinie than anything, who fell under Shooter's tutelage, leading to sometimes over-wrought stories (I prefer Michelinie when he deals with less cosmic threats). The art isn't anything to write home about, just kind of "generic Marvel." Lots of characters walking on and off, then turning up again (except Alicia) and the women are given no agency (what a surprise!). Apparently, this was originally supposed to be a two-parter in the regular series, but it got shunted over here. It doesn't help that it is linked to an FF story that went on for a while. Future issues of MTIO do link back around. The plaid fire demon look is beyond ludicrous and this from someone who grew up in the 70s! (I had childhood outfits that made me cringe back then!) Well, that's two less than spectacular annuals for this book, after some epic Starlin Thanos-material. The next year's annual has The Hulk and the Stranger, plus Pluto (the Roman God, not Mickey's pooch). Not much of a fan of the Stranger, but we will have to see, when we get there.
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Post by Rob Allen on Oct 10, 2021 19:49:56 GMT -5
Marvel Two-in-One Annual #4Thing & Black Bolt! That "Black Bolt" logo is clearly based on the original logo from Amazing Adventures #9, which I think was the first full issue of any comic solely devoted to the Inhumans.
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Post by berkley on Oct 11, 2021 1:28:23 GMT -5
Medusa's costume is so humdrum. Her standard appearance in the 70s really was a let-down after the Kirby version of the 60s. It's like the artists all thought she was little more than a head of hair with a body attached.
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Post by tingramretro on Oct 11, 2021 3:06:39 GMT -5
We get a fast recap of what occurs, come to an obvious conclusion and then go hunting for a traitor, only to find Wundarr has unleashed more chaos to distract (unknowingly?) Solarr and Klaw had teamed in Avengers #126 and Solarr was also part of Egghead's Emissaries of Evil, in Defenders, before getting his butt whooped. He was a pretty low-level villain. Klaw had a bit more status, having fought the FF and Black Panther, though, as we saw, he didn't come out of it well. Like to see Andy Serkis pull off that costume, though!
Solarr was a third-stringer, but probably the highest-profile mutant never to make it into the X-books. This was the period when Claremont's run was at its peak and I always wanted him to incorporate Solarr (now he's dead, I believe, so it's moot) (Solarr not Claremont obv).
In theory, any previously dead mutant could now be alive again on Krakoa, although sadly I doubt the writers of the X books would even remember Solarr.
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Post by codystarbuck on Oct 17, 2021 18:51:20 GMT -5
Marvel Team-Up #60Spidey and Wasp! That combination usually ends up with the wasp being spider dinner. Creative Team: Chris Claremont-writer, John Byrne-pencils, Dave Hunt-inks, Joe Rosen-letters, Don Warfield-colors, Archie Goodwin-editor Synopsis: Equinix is alive and Hank is nowhere to be found, as Captain Jean DeWolff surveys the damage.... Man, Byrne draws rather masculine women, sometimes! Jan doesn't want to hear that the police SWAT team is moving in and attacks Equninox, before Spidey pulls her back. They consult with Dr Sorenson, who says her son has been driven mad by the constant thermic changes, which touches off Jan. Spidey tells her to cool it and she erupts about what does he know about loss? Sorenson tries her big gun again to no effect and Spidey hauls her out of range, as well. They go to the Baxter Building to regroup and Sorenson details the backstory of Equinox... Terry's father was experimenting and negligent and was killed in an explosion, which altered Terry. Mom has been trying to fix things; but had to learn new science disciplines to begin to try. Money ran out, so Terry started stealing what they needed. His mental state deteriorated. Wasp's Avengers ID gets them into the Baxter Building and the lab, to try to work up a solution. Meanwhile, Equinox causes the New York Blackout. The FF's emergency generators kick in; but the security system reboots and treats them as intruders. Spidey and Sorenson get separated from Wasp, who tries to go through vents and learns Reed Richards thought of that. Spidey dopes out a harness to try to capture Equinox, who turns up and blasts through the wall. They fight and Spidey gets trapped in ice rings, but is saved by Yellowjacket! He's alive and helps them deploy the harness, which subdues Equinox. Hank explains that he shrunk to insect size and rode the shockwave of the explosion. Hank takes Jan home for some sweet lovin" (well, probably a hotel, as their place was blown apart) and Spidey is left to clean up. Thoughts: Well, the ending isn't really earned, as Spidey miracles a way to stop Equinox and Hank miraculously changed before the explosion and survived,, even thought the explosion would have ripped him apart at smaller size, due to its magnified force, relative to his size. Jan is pretty much wasted, as, other than escape from the security lasers, she contributes little but overwrought emotions. For all the talk of Claremont's women, there are a lot of sexist elements in many of his works. Certain types of women he can write well, but he is not great with all personalities. Wasp is a tricky character, as it is easy to turn her into a parody, thanks to the way Stan wrote her as the flighty socialite. She was often treated as a damsel in distress and she doesn't do much better here. Other times, she was a strong character; it really varies from writer to writer. Spidey saving the day via miracle science happens a lot on Claremont's MTU stories and were part of why I never bought into Spidey always having money troubles. If he couple whip up stuff like the harness, he could easily create something to earn money or just get a job with tech firm. Visually, the comic is fine, with Byrne handling the action well, even with the changing scale, for Wasp. However, the angles he chooses never really sells Jan's size, as we never get her POV on the rooms or environment, which is one of the keys to writing shrinking characters. Like many of his contemporaries, there seems to be little geography to his environments The Baxter Building layout makes little sense; but, that is par for the course, for comics. I can't really point to anyone who maintained a consistent layout to a setting in comics, though Mike Grell had a fairly solid detail to Jon Sable's brownstone and Gene Colan did, to a certain degree, with Matt Murdock's. Wasp's stingers suddenly turn super-charged, which turns out to have been due to Hank's work, which suddenly kick in at the climax. like most of the climax, it seems to come out of left field to end the story.
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Post by codystarbuck on Oct 17, 2021 19:44:02 GMT -5
Marvel Two-in-One #60Thing & the Impossible Man Creative Team: Mark gruenwald & Ralph Macchio-writers, George Perez-pencils, Gene Day-inks, John Costanza-letters, Roger Slifer-colors, Roger Stern-editor Synopsis: Ben is nervous about Alicia's art show reception and is working out. he is also going through one of his periods, wondering what she would think if she could really see him. he takes a shower and then sees a shadow in the door, which turns out to be Impy, The Impossible Man! Impy is bored and wants to tag along with Ben and finally convinces him to let him, disguised as a top hat. Ben relents, provided he remains a hat all evening. He walks to pick up Alicia and Impy changes form throughout, which earns Ben some odd looks. Ten, when they arrive, Impy can't understand why Alicia doesn't react to him, ven though he is standing behind ben, in his normal form. He switches back to hat, as they leave. They walk to the reception, but have to pass by Yancy Street and Ben gets edgy. Sure enough, the YSG try to knock his hat off, with a brick, but Impy swats it back, without Ben noticing the attack and parry. They arrive at the party and someone insults Ben's top hat, which earns a raspberry from Impy.... The creative team are there, as well, as are a trio of lesser criminals, who Ben has jailed before. they are disguised as the caterers and the each go by one of Alicia's sculptures of villains and merge with them, somehow, thanks to the yogi powers of Dakor, the leader of the trio. Meanwhile, the Puppet Master turns up to tell his daughter he loves her and is proud of her, which is nice. Then, the statues come to life and attack Ben. Ben doesn't fight for fear of smashing Alicia's work and Impy is puzzled. Ben tries to figure out who is behind it. Alicia can't see what is occurring and is told. Puppet Master confirms he is innocent and Alicia calls out to Ben to smash the statues and It's Clobberin' Time! That takes out two of the three, but Dakor's statue grabs Alicia, until Impy spots him and water bombs him, causing him to lose concentration. Ben catches him and knocks him out with a finger flick. ben apologizes to Alicia but she says he is worth more to her than any statue. Impy watches and doesn't understand love, but it stirs feelings of loneliness in him, with the loss of his world (his people sacrificed their world to Galactus, giving him indigestion). He realizes he doesn't have to be alone, since he shares the consciousness of his people and he subdivides and reproduces a female version of himself, who declares love for him and we meet the Impossible Woman... Thoughts: This was a bit of fun, after Project Pegasus and a nice comeback from the lackluster previous issue and the mess of the annual. Perez and Day made a great visual team and Impy lets them continue the convention of Marvel people turning up in the story; in this case, George, Mark Gruenwald and Ralph Macchio (who looks nothing like he did in The Karate Kid or Teachers). Day's inks work really well with Perez; but, sadly, they wouldn't be the regular art combo, though Gene sticks around a bit. The story is a bit sappy and the villains were three nobodies from an old Strange Tales story that everyone else had forgot. Not quite as good as Mastermind turning up in X-Men, as Jason Wyngarde. Next up begins a running subplot of the Guardians of the Galaxy hanging around and finds another female debuting.
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Post by Rob Allen on Oct 18, 2021 12:29:51 GMT -5
...the villains were three nobodies from an old Strange Tales story that everyone else had forgot. The Terrible Trio debuted in Fantastic Four #23. Strange Tales #122 was their second appearance; this issue of MTIO was their third.
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Post by codystarbuck on Oct 18, 2021 21:04:46 GMT -5
...the villains were three nobodies from an old Strange Tales story that everyone else had forgot. The Terrible Trio debuted in Fantastic Four #23. Strange Tales #122 was their second appearance; this issue of MTIO was their third. Story referred only to their Strange Tales appearance, which is why I mentioned it.
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Post by mikelmidnight on Oct 19, 2021 11:16:17 GMT -5
They ought to face off against the Terrible Trio from Nova (Condor, Diamondhead, and Powerhouse) or from Batman (Fox, Shark, and Vulture).
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Post by tingramretro on Oct 19, 2021 13:58:44 GMT -5
They ought to face off against the Terrible Trio from Nova (Condor, Diamondhead, and Powerhouse) or from Batman (Fox, Shark, and Vulture). I think Powerhouse is supposed to be dead. But I wish he wasn't.
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Post by berkley on Oct 19, 2021 17:56:22 GMT -5
They ought to face off against the Terrible Trio from Nova (Condor, Diamondhead, and Powerhouse) or from Batman (Fox, Shark, and Vulture). Wasn't there a villain-trio in the early Spider-Man too? One was a cowboy, if I'm thinking of the right thing.
Also, I believe Daredevil had a trio of animal-powered villains, but they were later amalgamated into one, or something equally weird.
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Post by tingramretro on Oct 19, 2021 19:21:14 GMT -5
They ought to face off against the Terrible Trio from Nova (Condor, Diamondhead, and Powerhouse) or from Batman (Fox, Shark, and Vulture). Wasn't there a villain-trio in the early Spider-Man too? One was a cowboy, if I'm thinking of the right thing.
Also, I believe Daredevil had a trio of animal-powered villains, but they were later amalgamated into one, or something equally weird.
The villain trio in Spider-Man were the Enforcers, who are still around. The animal themed villains in Daredevil were the Ani-Men, three of whom were also known as the Unholy Three, and no, they weren't amalgamated into one. They just died. A second Unholy Three later appeared, but two of them are now dead, too.
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Post by berkley on Oct 19, 2021 22:01:42 GMT -5
Wasn't there a villain-trio in the early Spider-Man too? One was a cowboy, if I'm thinking of the right thing.
Also, I believe Daredevil had a trio of animal-powered villains, but they were later amalgamated into one, or something equally weird.
The villain trio in Spider-Man were the Enforcers, who are still around. The animal themed villains in Daredevil were the Ani-Men, three of whom were also known as the Unholy Three, and no, they weren't amalgamated into one. They just died. A second Unholy Three later appeared, but two of them are now dead, too.
I'm getting them mixed up with the Tri-Animan, maybe? Haven't read those early DDs in so long, my memories are hazy.
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Post by tingramretro on Oct 20, 2021 3:47:17 GMT -5
The villain trio in Spider-Man were the Enforcers, who are still around. The animal themed villains in Daredevil were the Ani-Men, three of whom were also known as the Unholy Three, and no, they weren't amalgamated into one. They just died. A second Unholy Three later appeared, but two of them are now dead, too.
I'm getting them mixed up with the Tri-Animan, maybe? Haven't read those early DDs in so long, my memories are hazy. I don't recall any "Tri-Animan". The Tri-Man, yes, but he was nothing to do with the Ani-Men.
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